Ardrey reappointed as Janesville School Board president

JANESVILLE—The Janesville School Board unanimously reappointed Greg Ardrey to the position of board president Tuesday night.

Ardrey has been on the board since 2012. He thanked fellow board members for their vote of confidence.

Also reappointed were Kristin Hesselbacher to the position of vice president and Karl Dommershausen to clerk. Both have been on the board since 2010.

Bill Sodemann was appointed to treasurer, replacing board member Deborah Schilling. Sodemann has been on the board since 2005.

In other business:

The board allowed the district's proposed e-cigarette ban to make it to the board's consent agenda at its next meeting without discussion.

Unless a board member voices objection at the next meeting, the ban will become district policy.

E-cigarettes would be banned in all district buildings, grounds and vehicles.

The devices are a method of smoking in which nicotine is inhaled through water vapor. E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid nicotine solution instead of burning tobacco. The heat creates a vapor that is then inhaled.

Other area schools have considered similar legislation. The Beloit School District passed a ban at their schools in April.

“We don't condone the use of any smoking materials,” Janesville School District Superintendent Karen Schulte said.

She explained the reason e-cigarettes aren't already banned is because they have become popular since the district last passed regulations on tobacco products.

“As new things come out we add them to our list,” Schulte said.

E-cigarette vapors can contain metals and other toxins such as nicotine, flavoring, vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, according to health officials.

The district's new policy would define tobacco use as to "chew or maintain any substance containing tobacco, including smokeless tobacco, in the mouth to derive the effects of tobacco, as well as all uses of tobacco, including cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, any other matter or substance that contains tobacco, in addition to papers used to roll cigarettes and/or the smoking of electronic, 'vapor,' or other substitute forms of cigarettes, clove cigarettes and any other lighted smoking devices for burning tobacco or any other substance."